Sept. 1, 2011--With the economy
flat and Labor Day approaching, a number of candidates are setting out
plans for promoting job growth. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman
announced "Time to Compete" yesterday in New Hampshire, former Gov.
Mitt Romney is to announce his plan in Nevada on September 6, and
President Obama
is to make a speech on jobs before a joint session of Congress on
September 8.

Former Gov.
Buddy Roemer chose to announce his plan "in front of the bear den,"
that is the Chinese Embassy. Referring to China, Roemer stated,
"There's a big bear standing in the room eating our jobs."

In his rather lengthy speech, Roemer argued that, "This experiment with
the global free trade had been tried and it has failed." "Global
free trade did not work because other nations did not accept
it," Roemer said. "Free trade is so seductive," he
stated, "but it doesn't work." Roemer outlined how for much of
America's history tariffs allowed the country to build its
manufacturing base. "Using tariffs to protect our industries made the
United States great," he said.

After laying out the case for what tariffs have accomplished,
Roemer said, "I'm not a tariff guy." He proposed
three specific steps he would pursue.

First, he said, much could be accomplished with what he called "the tax
deduction solution." This would entail amending the Internal
Revenue Code sections 162 and 212 and sections 167 and 179—"adding one
sentence to the IRS Code and deleting one
paragraph"— so
that goods and services would not be tax deductible unless they are
American. "This will encourage American businesses to buy
American," Roemer said.

Second, Roemer said, he would eliminate the foreign tax credit, which
he said is a major loophole.

Third, Roemer said, he would require importers to pay our government
for
a fair trade adjustment form.

Speaking to reporters before and
after his speech Roemer offered some observations on the progress of
his campaign. After taking an apartment in New Hampshire in July,
he spent more than three weeks in the state in August. Yesterday,
for example, he visited Conway, although he said it took about five
hours to get there because of road closures due to flooding from
Hurricane Irene. Roemer said that last week was his best
fundraising week so far. He reflected on his exclusion from the
debates, the next of which is set for September 7. Roemer noted
that "not one question about the money [has been asked] in these
so-called
debates." Roemer said it is still early and he anticipates
he will be able to get in a couple of debates. "I like my
opponents, but they're not talking about the issues," he said.
Roemer said that after a 20 year absence from politics, "I'm more
relevant now than I was then." "America desperately needs a
crotchety old man like me," Roemer said.